e supreme
heroism of Brebeuf, Jogues, Lalemant, and many more. Their house at
Quebec stood half-way between Versailles and the wilderness. They were
in close alliance with Laval and supported the ideal and divine rights
of the Church. They had found strong friends in Champlain and
Montmagny. Frontenac, however, was a layman of another type. However
orthodox his religious ideas may have been, his heart was not lowly and
his temper was not devout. Intensely autocratic by disposition, he
found it easy to identify his own will to power with a defence {58} of
royal prerogative against the encroachments of the Church. It was an
attitude that could not fail to beget trouble, for the Ultramontanes
had weapons of defence which they well knew how to use.

Having in view these ulterior motives, the acrimony of Frontenac's
quarrel with Laval is not surprising. Rightly or wrongly, the governor
held that the bishop was subservient to the Jesuits, while Colbert's
plain instructions required the governor to keep the Jesuits in check.
From such a starting-point the further developments were almost
automatic. Laval found on his return that Frontenac had exacted from
the clergy unusual and excessive honours during church services. This
furnished a subject of heated debate and an appeal by both parties to
the king. After full consideration Frontenac received orders to rest
content with the same honours which were by custom accorded the
governor of Picardy in the cathedral of Amiens.

More important by far than this argument over precedence was the
dispute concerning the organization of parishes. Here the issue hinged
on questions of fact rather than of theory. Beyond question the
habitants were entitled to have priests living permanently in {59}
their midst, as soon as conditions should warrant it. But had the time
come when a parish system could be created? Laval's opinion may be
inferred from the fact that in 1675, sixteen years after his arrival in
Canada, only one priest lived throughout the year among his own people.
This was the Abbe de Bernieres, cure of Notre Dame at Quebec. In 1678
two more parishes received permanent incumbents--Port Royal and La
Durantaye. Even so, it was a small number for the whole colony.

Frontenac maintained that Laval was unwilling to create a normal system
of parishes because thereby his personal power would be reduced. As
long as the cures were not permanently stationed they remained